THIRD STAKES WINNER FOR CHARM SPIRIT
Stallion sons of the Irish National Stud's flag bearer Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) have been producing some excellent results, and in addition to his established Group 1 sons Lawman and I Am Invincible, he has two of the brightest prospects among the current batch of second-crop sires.
Both were brilliant milers during their racing days.
Banstead Manor Stud's Kingman has five first-crop stakes winners so far and they the recent runaway Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau scorer Persian King, who looks likely to secure Group 1 honours before long.
Charm Spirit, on the other hand, is a member of the team at Tweenhills Farm & Stud in Gloucestershire and the victory of Kick On in the Listed bet365 Fielden Stakes at Newmarket on Tuesday gave him his third blacktype winner.
Yourtimeisnow landed the Group 3 Dick Poole Stakes for him last season, Aretha is a Group 1-placed Group 2 scorer in New Zealand, and his long list of successful runners also includes the Group 3-placed pair Charming Kid and Epistrophy.
Kick On was bred by Shutford Stud, he has won two of his four starts and finished a three-and-a-quarter-length sixth to Magna Grecia in the Group 1 Vertems Futurity Trophy Stakes on his final run at two.
The 135,000gns graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale is trained by John Gosden, carries the famous colours of Qatar Racing Ltd and holds entries in both the Group 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas and the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes.
He is a half-brother to the nine-furlong listed scorer Raw Impulse (by Makfi) and also to the pattern-placed dual stakes-winning sprinter Sabratah (by Oasis Dream) whose Andre Fabre-trained son Syrtis (by Frankel) chased home Slalom in the Group 3 Prix Noailles at ParisLongchamp on Sunday.
Kick On's dam Marika (by Marju) won a listed contest over six furlongs and her siblings include Sueboog (by Darshaan), a Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes winner and dam of Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan victor Best Of The Bests (by Machiavellian).
Marika is also a half-sister to Sell Out (by Act One) who was a pattern-placed listed-race winner over 12 furlongs before going on to become the dam of last year's six-furlong stakes-winning juvenile Showout (by Showcasing).
All of this makes Kick On an interesting prospect for the 2019 season and it would be no surprise to see him go on to pattern success in the coming months.
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OASIS DREAM REVIVAL CONTINUES
Banstead Manor Stud's outstanding stallion Oasis Dream (by Green Desert) endured a surprising dip in the number of new Group 1 horses emerging from his recent crops but then 2018 happened – his three-year-olds yielded Group 1 star Polydream and his juveniles featured the Group 1-winning champion filly Pretty Pollyanna.
That latter batch also includes Shine So Bright who looked every inch a future pattern ace in the making when taking the Listed bet365 European Free Handicap at Newmarket on Tuesday.
The Andrew Balding-trained grey has won two of his six starts but was a notable juvenile despite winning just once at that age.
His debut success was followed by fifth to Calyx in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot and then third place in each of the Group 2 Richmond Stakes, Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes and Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes.
That a step up to seven furlongs coincided with his first blacktype win is unlikely to be mere coincidence given that this £375,000 Goffs London Sale graduate is out of 10-furlong Leopardstown Group 3 scorer Alla Speranza (by Sir Percy).
That talented performer is a half-sister to the pattern-placed 12-furlong listed winner Altesse (by Hernando), her dam is the lightly-raced stakes winner Alvarita (by Selkirk), and her grandam is the outstanding Alborada (by Alzao).
Like her multiple Group 1-winning full-sister Albanova, that dual Group 1 Champion Stakes heroine was bred by Kirsten Rausing, as were Alvarita, Alla Speranza and Shine So Bright.
This is a famous family whose Group 1 standouts also include Quarter Moon (by Sadler's Wells), Yesterday (by Sadler's Wells) and Diamondandrubies (by Fastnet Rock), and so it would be no surprise to see its newest emerging talent hit the top in time.
Oasis Dream's notable winners so far in 2019 also include the Dermot Weld-trained four-year-old Imaging, who has won both the Listed Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown and Group 3 Gladness Stakes at Naas, and Listed Doncaster Mile scorer Sharja Bridge.
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RISING STAR FOR SCAT DADDY
The late and much-lamented Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg) has a new rising star to his name following the victory of Qabala in the Group 3 Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket on Tuesday.
The Roger Varian-trained bay, who made $300,000 at Fasig-Tipton as a foal, won her only start at two – also over seven furlongs – and she looks like being one of her sire's notable seven-to-10-furlong performers.
On his own racing profile and his overall stud record, it is those horses, whose ranks include standouts such as Justify, Mendelssohn, Dacita, and a bunch of South American classic aces, that are his more typical representatives rather than the sprinter and precocious juvenile Scat Daddys that we've become accustomed to here.
Qabala's siblings include nine-and-a-half-furlong French scorer Banoush (by Mizzen Mast), and her dam Entwine (by Empire Maker) is a half-sister to mile Grade 2 winner Filimbi (by Mizzen Mast), a high-class grey whose Grade 1-placings featured a half-length second to Tepin in the Just A Game Stakes.
Flute (by Seattle Slew), the grandam of Qabala, easily won the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes over 10 furlongs and the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks over nine, and that star's grandam was Media Luna (by Star Appeal) who chased home Circus Plume in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom in 1984.
Qabala, who was bred by Eutrophia Farm in Kentucky, is now at the top of the market for next month's Group 1 Qipco 1000 Guineas and, with her pedigree, she could be a star player in the season's best fillies races at a mile and 10 furlongs.
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UNEXPECTED STROKE FOR PIVOTAL
Cheveley Park Stud stallion Pivotal (by Polar Falcon) was expected to provide the winner of the Group 3 Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday, but although he did do so it was not with the big-race favourite.
Group 1 ace Brando, who was bidding for a third consecutive score in that six-furlong test, could finish only third this time around as the Stuart Williams-trained Keystroke swept past his rivals to land the spoils by a head and neck. Yafta split the pair.
This 66/1 success was a seventh win in 19 starts for the seven-year-old and his second from three runs in 2019. The entire was bred by Cheveley Park Stud and sold by them for 120,000gns from Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale of 2013, but the bay changed hands again three years later for just 38,000gns.
He is a half-brother to several multiple winners and is out of Fondled (by Selkirk), a dual mile handicap winner whose dam, the stakes-winning miler Embraced (by Pursuit Of Love), is a a half-sister to Group 2 scorer and Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes runner-up Cesare (by Machiavellian).
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CLASSIC PROSPECT FOR SHAMARDAL
Outstanding Kildangan Stud stallion Shamardal (by Giant's Causeway) has another potential Group 1 ace among his offspring now that Skardu is heading to next month's Qipco 2000 Guineas as an unbeaten winner of the Group 3 bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
It remains to be seen whether or not the William Haggas-trained chesnut can extended his sequence to three in that mile classic, but there is every reason to hope that the colt will play a leading role in the three-year-old division of 2019.
He was bred by Sheikh Abdulla Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, he is the first foal of Diala (by Iffraaj), and that seven-furlong scorer is out of Quaich (by Danehill), a winning granddaughter of Spain Lane (by Seeking The Gold).
That filly was placed in both the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and Group 1 Prix Morny as a juvenile but went on to take the Group 2 Prix du Gros Chene and Group 3 Prix de Seine et Oise at three, and she was third to the brilliant Lochsong in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp.
Spain Lane's half-brother Marquetry (by Conquistador Cielo), however, was a star eight-to-10-furlong performer in the US where his Grade 1 wins came in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Eddie Read Handicap and Meadowlands Cup.
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GROUP HONOURS FOR VEGA'S SON PRINCE
Ballylinch Stud stallion Lope De Vega (by Shamardal) is well-established as being one of the most important young sires in Europe and his tally of 52 global stakes winners includes seven who have won at the highest level.
That elite bunch include juvenile and mile ace Belardo (yearlings in 2019), last year's brilliant US two-year-old Newspaperofrecord, and also Santa Ana Lane, the Australian sprinter who may be the best six-furlong horse in the world right now.
Zabeel Prince is not yet in their league but the lightly-raced six-year-old added an impressive Group 3 bet365 Earl Of Sefton Stakes victory on Thursday to last year's eye-catching success in the Listed Doncaster Mile.
The Roger Varian-trained chesnut has won five of his nine starts, he holds an entry in next month's Group 1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, and he is another talented horse bred by Roundhill Stud.
Puissance De Lune (by Shamardal) is the best of his siblings and that notably versatile and multiple Group 1-placed stallion got a pair of Group 2 wins over seven furlongs and a mile after running away with a Group 3 over 13 furlongs and a listed race over 12.
Their dam, Princess Serena (by Unbridled's Song), is a half-sister to the Grade 1-placed multiple graded scorer Doubles Partner (by Rock Hard Ten), who was best at eight to nine furlongs, and the grandam is Serena's Sister (by Rahy).
She is, as her name might suggest, a full-sister to multiple Grade 1 star Serena's Song, the dam of Group 1 Coronation Stakes heroine Sophisticat (by Storm Cat), and these are just two of the notable winners that you will find in this famous family.